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Innovation…a Panacea of Life

Innovations have made our everyday lives easier and more comfortable. The actual life-giving experiences, however, we gain thanks to the progress in the field of medicine. How did ancient Indian medical practitioners like Charaka and Sushruta perform surgeries or operations thousands of years ago? Were they using potions made from plants, leaves or flowers; or were they using clay? It is believed that stings of a certain kind of ants were used while stitching certain wounds. The man started creating new objects by observing the processes in nature. Nowadays, however, we prefer antibiotics to the natural remedies, because the healing time is less.

The more the discoveries and inventions were made, the medical science progressed more. Now, if someone feels feverish, they can easily check their body temperature by using a thermometer. Now we need not use the mercury-filled thermometers. There are digital thermometers, which display the body temperature in numerals.

Until a few years ago, patients had to wait for long hours at clinics to check their blood pressure, blood sugar levels, or to get insulin injections. That waiting was troublesome, especially for elderly patients. Now, however, there are home blood pressure and sugar monitoring devices. Such devices give immediate results. Patients need not wait for weeks or stand in queues for their reports. Also, these devices keep records of the readings. So, if required during any medical tests, all the previous readings are easily available.

These days, scientists are working on developing technology to help doctors make the right diagnosis by reviewing the patients’ sweat analysis instead of the blood analysis. Such non-invasive tests will be definitely more comfortable and less scary for many patients.

Now patients or their attendants need not worry about missing a dose of their medicine. They can use the ‘Medication reminder’ bottles to remind them of the time and dosage of the prescribed medicines.

Exercise is always a key to the healthy life. And now, technology is helping to do it in a more disciplined way. Many people have started wearing activity tracking wristbands such as Fitbit instead of normal wrist watches. These bands can keep records of users’ heartbeats, walked steps, distance covered, the time for which the user was active, hours of sleep etc. Based on this data, the users can actually set different exercise targets for themselves. Clearly, these tools not only guide the users but also encourage them to achieve the targets.

According to the Ramayana, when Lakshmana was fatally wounded, Hanumana was sent to mount Dronagiri to bring a magical life-restoring herb called ‘Sanjeevani’. When he couldn’t identify the exact herb, he brought an entire mountain. Now, however, we need not go to any mountain in search of the panacea for living longer. The mountain itself has appeared in front of us in the form of technology, innovation, and advanced studies.